Written words, hidden body
by terig
Summary: "As Jazz reached the door to Prowls office he heard an odd noise, one which sounded suspiciously like crying, which made him stop dead in his tracks. In all the years Jazz has known Prowl the mech has never cried, the very thought that that was what he was hearing made his energon run cold." Someone pulls a "prank" on Prowl that leaves more than one mech affected. Warning:Bullying!


**A/N: Hello people of the internet XD its been agesssss since I've posted anything and I feel bad so here have this :p I'm just going to say now that how you view Jazz and Prowls relationship in this story is entirely up to your interpretation... the ending especially ;) Hope you enjoy**

**WARNING: Someone commented saying that they think the story needs a warning because they felt unprepared for what happened in the story. So I'm warning you now that some scenes in the story may be upsetting for you to read (primarly at the beginning) **

**Disclaimer:**** Unfortunately I don't own any of these characters *cries***

Jazz walked down the ark humming to himself as he headed towards Prowls office. Nothing of interest had happened during the day, the decepticons had been on the down low recently, which meant there wasn't much to do for entertainment. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe had been unnaturally quiet the past few days, which was never a good thing, as it meant the two were up to something. And because of all of this Jazz had absolutely _nothing_ to do, so he had decided to head to Prowls to bug the up-tight mech into having an energon cube with him.

Jazz considered Prowl to be his best friend, even though many mechs around the ark found that hard to believe. To be honest he too found it hard to believe at times. Trying to work out why a workaholic, antisocial, nonsense bot like Prowl was best friends with a party loving, care free bot like himself often gave him a helmache. How the sheer illogicalness of the situation didn't make Prowl glitch every time was beyond Jazz. But somehow the two were a good pair.

Prowl was far more open with his thoughts and emotions around Jazz, and yes the mech did have emotions, despite what others tried to say against that fact. And Jazz was fiercely loyal to Prowl, automatically defending him when others tried to dismiss his capacity for emotions, or even when they had the nerve to disregard him as being whole, of having a _spark_. More than one mech had ended up in medbay that day when they'd made the mistake of saying that within the vicinity of Jazz. And it was safe to say the matter was never mentioned again.

As Jazz reached the door to Prowls office he heard an odd noise, one which sounded suspiciously like crying, which made him stop dead in his tracks. In all the years Jazz has known Prowl the mech has never cried, the very thought that _that_ was what he was hearing made his energon run cold. He was standing directly outside the door, being deathly silent, straining to see if he would hear the noise again. A few seconds later a faint weeping sound could be heard from the other side of the door, confirming Jazz's prediction.

Without second thought he entered the room, optics scanning for Prowls life form. But what he found made his spark break. There, lying in the corner of the office with his hands covering his face as he cried; was Prowl. Only he was barely recognisable underneath the amount of degrading and cruel comments, both English and cybertronian, covering his chest plates and no doubt his back too.

"Prowler? Are you okay? Wha' happened?" Jazz asked the sobbing mech.

Between harsh, loud, laboured vent intakes Prowl was finally able to get out a simple word; "Twins," before bursting out into a fit of muffled tears again.

Blazing rage filled Jazz's frame. This was too far. _THIS_ was utterly unacceptable. An urge to rip off both mechs arms flooded his systems, and the only thing stopping him from doing so was the obviously emotionally unstable bot at his feet. Kneeling in front of the weeping mech Jazz placed his hands on Prowls face and pulled the other mechs hands away so he could try talk to him. But what he saw on his face made him understand why the other bot had tried to cover it. Comments ranging from personal jokes, such as "tree" (it was something one of the humans had compared Prowl to due to his height and stoicness once) to the likes of traitor, murderer, Megatron's whore and single credit pleasure bot adorned different parts of his body. But on his face, in large, neat cybertronian, was sparkling rapist. _**SPARKLING RAPIST**_. That had to be one of the vilest things someone could have written. That was something you wouldn't call your worst enemy, not even Megatron. Sparklings were precious to every Cybertronian due to how rare it was for a sparkling to be born, and you were considered to be the lowest of the lows if you so much as even thought about hurting a sparkling, but to rape a sparkling... Well that was an automatic forfeit of your life in the most painful method possible. Jazz's intakes hitched at the words. The twins and anyone else involved would pay for this, _severely_, even if it was the last thing he did.

"Prowl? Prowler come on ma mech, _look at me_." The bot in question hesitantly lifted his head and looked Jazz in the optics. "You know and everyone else knows that none o' that is true." And he wasn't lying. Every bot on the ark knew that Prowl wouldn't dare hurt a sparkling, he was a strict by the book law enforcer before the war, and it was a trait that he still carried now.

Prowl looked at Jazz brokenly. "I know. But what I don't know is _why_. Why would they do this to me Jazz?" Sensing the situation wasn't going to get better anytime soon, Jazz helped in the only way he could at the moment. He hugged Prowl with as much force as he could msuter. And surprisingly, Prowl hugged back after only a moment's hesitation.

"I don't know Prowler. I really don't, but I swear on primus I'll make 'em pay for this." And he meant it. Energon was going to be spilt over the matter, and it certainly wasn't going to be his. With his arms still around Prowl, Jazz plopped down beside the mech before pulling him over so that Prowl was sitting comfortably on his lap, and his helm rested on Jazz's shoulder. He wasn't sure how long the pair sat like that, in companionable silence, with Jazz running his hand comfortingly up and down Prowl's back. However he knew it would eventually have to end.

"Prowler?" Jazz gently nudges the mech residing in his lap and Prowls optics open to stare into his own. "Ano this is comfy 'nd all buh how about we try ta get this off. I'll come and help ya. Okay?" Prowl blinks as though he didn't know what Jazz was talking about, before glancing down at his chest and wincing before nodding his head in agreement. "That's ma mech. Come on, up ya get."

Prowl stiffly gets up from his perch on Jazz's lap and offers his hand down to him to help pull him up, which Jazz accepts with a strained smile. Stretching slightly when he's upright Jazz casts a wiry glance at Prowl, trying to assess the mental stability of the mech. And while he looks the same as always, there's a distant look in his optics.

Moving towards the door, Jazz lets his hand hover over the key pad. "Ya know it's not that far 'f walk to tha wash racks, buh there might be a few mechs around tha halls. I want ya ta ignore 'em, if tha say anything I'll sort 'em out. Okay?"

"Okay." Is the only response Jazz receives, and with it he opens the door. Jazz steps out into the hall and Prowl follows behind him. He waits until Prowl is beside him before walking forward, making sure the mech is on his right the whole time. Rounding a corner the pair come face to face with Bumblebee. The little scout smiles at Jazz, having seen him first, before turning to Prowl, where the smile drops off his face.

"Prowl! Wh-what happened?" The shock in Bumblebees voice is evident. Shaking his helm, Jazz steps around the smaller mech, snapping slightly. "Not now Bee. Right now I just wanna help Prowl get rid of it." And with that he grabs a hold of Prowls hand and pulls him along behind him.

Continuing on down the arks halls Jazz keeps a hold of Prowl's hand, and the more mechs they pass, the tighter Prowl seems to cling to his hand, almost like a lifeline. Along their journey they meet several mechs, who all react differently. Ratchet sputters in utter shock, unable to get a single word out. Bluestreak instantly begins apologising to Prowl as though it was his fault. Mirage turns invisible, like he can't bear to be around Prowl. But most surprising of them all is Ironhide. The war-hardened mech actually bursts out into a flood of tears before running off.

By the time they reach the wash racks a large crowd of mechs has already formed, nothing stays a secret in the ark for long after all. When they see the duo approaching an eerie silence falls upon them as the mechs move to either side of the hall, leaving a gap in the middle for the pair to walk through. Jazz feels Prowl tense behind him and he reassuringly squeezes his hand before continuing down the parted hallway, noting the sheer amount of mechs who are crying in response to the words adorning Prowls finish. It was both heart-warming and devastating to see how much this prank had affected not only Prowl, but the entire Autobot force.

As they approach the door, the mechs they'd previously passed move to stand in the centre of the hall, filling the gap they'd just walked through. When Jazz reaches for the wash racks key pad he hears an odd cackling. At first he thought he had imagined it, but by the way Prowl gripped his hand in an almost painful manner confirmed that he hadn't. Whirling around Jazz scanned the crowd with furious optics until they landed on the source; Cliffjumper.

"I think it suits ya Prowl. At least now we finally know something personal about you!" Other mechs started to turn to stare at Cliffjumper in horror as he continued on his rant. "I mean with you being Megatron's whore," numerous sharp intakes of air could be heard at that statement, but that was a detail the minicon clearly ignored, "it would explain why you don't react to so many good bots being slaughtered by your _owner_, while they blindly follow **your** battle tactics!" Dangerous growls could be heard all around the longer Cliffjumper went on. "How does that make you feel? I bet it doesn't even _**compute **_for you!"

As soon as the words were out Cliffjumper's mouth he was aggressively tackled to the ground by several different mechs. The first ones surprisingly were Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, followed by a still teary faced Ironhide (who was doing a good impression of a crying rabid dog), then Bluestreak and lastly Bumblebee. Both physical and verbal abuse were thrown towards the red minicon, and not one bot tried to stop it.

Jazz gawked at the site before him; he couldn't believe that Cliff had said all those things about Prowl. And speaking of Prowl, it was then that he noticed how tightly the mech was clutching his hand. Turning around he saw the look of shock, pain, and horror etched on Prowls face. Jazz knew he had to get Prowl away from all the fighting; it wasn't helping him at all with the state his processor was in at the moment. Giving Prowls hand a squeeze, he used his free hand to push the wash rack doors open, walking in and tugging Prowl in by the hand after him, making sure to lock the door after.

Without saying a word Jazz lead Prowl under one of the shower heads and turned on the solvent. When the blast hit Prowl he jumped slightly, but made no protest. Grabbing one of the brushes nearby for washing ones frame, Jazz began the slow methodical motions of cleaning off the paint. It takes at least an hour to get rid of all the evidence of what had been written, and it would probably take a few more hours to properly repaint over the scratches Jazz's frantic scrubbing had left behind. But throughout the entire exchange Prowl hadn't uttered a word. In fact he barely even blinked the whole time. Jazz soon became concerned for his friend's mental state, and so he tried getting through to him.

"Prowler, you okay? Yer paints a lil scratched buh don't worry, I'll fix it for ya." Jazz placed a comforting hand on Prowls shoulder plate and smiled warmly up at him. His optics moved down to look at Jazz and for the first time since they'd left his office, Prowl spoke. "Thank you Jazz, for everything. I couldn't ask for a better friend." Jazz's spark swelled with affection for the mech before him and he couldn't stop himself from wrapping his arms around Prowls waist in a tight hug. He had hugged Prowl in the past, but it was always one sided, however for the first time in history, Prowl hugged him back. And it wasn't an awkward embrace, it was comfortable. It almost felt as though Prowls frame had melted and moulded to fit perfectly against his own. The two stood wrapped in each other's arms for what felt like hours, but was only a matter of minutes.

When Jazz finally pulled away his spark fluttered at the affectionate stare Prowl was giving him. He could have imagined it, because it was there and gone so quickly, but he would almost bet his spark that it had truely been there. With one final smile Jazz begins to walk towards the wash racks' doors. Hearing Prowls footsteps follow behind him after a moment's hesitation.

When the door opens Jazz walks straight into another bot. The impact causes him to stumble slightly, only to be caught at the last second by large navy hands which could belong to none other than the Prime. When Jazz is back on balance he cranes his neck upwards so he can look at his leader. "I require both of you in my office now." Is all Optimus says before walking away without waiting for an answer. Jazz turns around to look at Prowl quizzically, trying to see if the mech had even heard what Prime had said. Prowl blinks at Jazz before walking around him and following the leader of the autobot forces down the arks halls, calling faintly behind him for Jazz to hurry up. He catches up to Prowl in a matter of second and the pair proceed to walk the remaining journey together in silence.

When they step inside Optimus' office a few minutes later, they quickly discover that they're not alone. Sitting on three separate chairs is Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, and a worse for wear looking Cliffjumper; the latter being situated practically on the opposite end of the room from the twins. Jazz tenses slightly at the door when he see's everyone present in the room, instantly wanting to cause bodily harm to each of them in turn.

Optimus is already sat behind his desk staring angrily at a data pad when they walk in, and he barely acknowledges his SIC and TIC when they enter the room, only glancing up to tell them to grab a seat and be quiet, before going back to looking at the data pad in his hand. Both of them silently comply with the demand and Prowl takes a seat on the left of Jazz, which means Jazz, is sat in between Prowl and Cliffjumper. Everyone is tense.

Suddenly Optimus is on his feet and launching the data pad across the room, watching as it explodes into hundreds of tiny pieces. Jazz is on his feet instantly, putting himself between Optimus and Prowl before his processor even has time to think about what he's doing. He stands there in a mix of shock and horror, both at himself and the Prime's actions. Optimus is still venting heavily when Jazz feels a hand reach out and slip into his own, gently pulling him back towards his chair. He looks back and sees Prowl staring at him with both confusion and gratitude in his optics.

"I can't even begin to fathom what you've done. Nothing you say can dignify this kind of behaviour Cliffjumper. What do you have to say for yourself?" When the Prime was met with nothing but silence, Jazz could practically see his optics darken with rage. "_ANSWER ME CLIFFJUMPER_!"

In all Jazz's years of following Optimus, he had never seen him look so furious, and the sight actually frightened him. Yet still the silence stretched on, and on, for what felt like an eternity until finally_, finally,_ Cliffjumper spoke. "I only wrote what we were all thinking. I mean if Prowl was a true autobot tactician then why are so many good mechs dying on his command?"

The sheer amount of spite and utter conviction in Cliff's voice while he said that showed just how much he believed in his own argument. But he was so far from the truth it was unbelievable.

"We all trust Prowl with our lives. He's saved _all_ our afts, including yours, more times than I can count. Sure some bots have died, but it's a fragging WAR CLIFFJUMPER! Bots die; it's the price we ALL have to pay if we ever want to return to Cybertron!" Sunstreaker's voice was borderline hysterical as he continued on his outburst. "Prowl has to bear the loss of all their Sparks on his shoulders because he knows they died following his word! How DARE you try and say he does it on purpose! What's **wrong** with you?" At some point the young frontliner had gotten out of his seat and was now standing directly in front of the minicon.

"What's wrong with me? _ME_! I'm the only one with any sense here. Prime surely yo-"

"_**ENOUGH**_!" bellowed Optimus. "Sunstreaker sit back down. I don't want to hear you speak anymore lies Cliffjumper. You are to go directly to the brig until I say otherwise. _NOW_!" Cliff managed to look both frightened and defiant, but one hard glare from the Prime and he was on his way.

Once the door to the Prime's office closed, Jazz could practically see Optimus relax. He turned remorseful optics to Prowl and spoke. "I'm sure you're wondering why the twins are here, and why I haven't said a word to them." Jazz saw Prowl nod his head slightly out of the corner of his optic, and he had to admit that he'd been wondering the same thing too. "The reason for this is because the twins came and explained everything to me once they saw you outside the wash racks. And now they're going to explain everything to you."

Prowl turned to his left so that he could sit facing the twins, and it was in that movement that Jazz noticed Prowl still had a hold on his hand, and it seemed Prowl only noticed now too because he looked confused as to why his movement was hindered. When he saw his grip on Jazz's hand his optics widened minutely in shock, but the expression was quickly dropped, just like his hand.

"It had started out as an innocent prank," began Sideswipe "we had planned to write silly comments and jokes on your body-"

"Like the tree one and all." Sunstreaker said, interrupting Sideswipe.

"Yeah like that." Sideswipe agreed, nodding at his brother. "Anyways... We put a light sedative in your morning energon so that you'd be asleep long enough for us to write them, ya know?. Then Cliffjumper walked in on us, and he threatened to tell Optimus what we'd done and ruin all the fun." Sunstreaker snorted at that. "And when we asked him what it would take to keep him quiet he just said he wanted in." Sideswipes voice began to waver. "We didn't see any harm in letting him write a few things." A tear rolled down his faceplate, "We're _so sorry_ Prowl. We had no idea what he'd written!" Another tear soon followed by another rolled down the red lambo twins face as his emotions caught the better of him. Jazz was in shock. Never in all his life had he seen Sides look so, open and... _vulnerable. _

"To begin with the little shrimp had written jokes like us," Sunstreaker went on, sensing his brother wouldn't be able to continue, "and we'd all left your office together a few minutes after _Cliffjumper_ had shown up" Sunny practically spat the red minicons name out. "But the primus forsaken piece of scrap had obviously gone back and written more on you without us knowing. We had _nothing _to do with the cruel comments." Sunny growled slightly, actually _growled, _"And if we hadda known what he'd done to you we woulda beat the scrap outa him long before we actually did."

There was another silence in which no one spoke. "Red Alert has video fed of the event. They're telling the truth. That's what I was watching on the, eh pad..." Optimus said, voice lowering slightly as he neared the end of his sentence. Jazz snorted. "Ya mean tha pile of rubble over there?" he said, whilst pointing at the remnants of what was once a fully functioning data pad. Optimus had the decency to look ashamed of his actions.

"We really are sorry Prowl," Sideswipe said again, "We'll do whatever punishment you give us without complaint."

"I'll even repaint your finish for you" Added Sunstreaker. Prowl just looked at the twins. Not speaking, not even acting as though he'd heard what they'd said at all. Just as the twins started to look concerned he turned to Optimus "Is this ok with you?"

Optimus just nodded his head in agreement "I think it's only fair that you should choose a punishment for them, one that you see fit." Prowl hummed in response and looked back at the twins, narrowing his optics slightly, "Any punishment I choose with _no_ complaints?" Both twins say yes and so Prowl continues. "I want yous to be on brig duty until I say otherwise. It will be your job to watch those in the brig and make sure they have a... _pleasant stay." _The twins both chuckled darkly at that comment and with that Prowl rose from his seat and headed towards the door, before turning back to face them once more. "Oh obviously I want to be repainted, however I also want your paint jobs to be redone." The twins looked at Prowl quizzically, "It's a surprise." Is all he says before turning to look at Jazz expectantly, "Are you coming?"

Jazz is momentarily unsure of what to do, but a slight nod from Optimus is the only dismissal he needs before rising out of his chair to follow Prowl out of the office. When it's just the two of them alone in the hallway he stops and turns to Prowl. "Alright what are ya planning in that processer of yers?"

Prowl smirks at him and leans down to whisper in his audio, "It's a secret..." before standing upright and walking away as though nothing had happened. It took Jazz's processor a second to right itself before he jogged to catch up with Prowl again. "A'right, buh it better be good ma mech."

Jazz walked with Prowl into the rec room and they both grab a cube of energon before heading over to a table in the corner and taking a seat beside one another. They sit and sip on their energon in comfortable silence, until Prowl turns to face Jazz. "Thank you for everything you did today Jazz... I don't know what I'd have done without you." Jazz stared at Prowl, optics wide. Then, suddenly Jazz found himself wrapped in a tight embrace from Prowl. His head was resting on Prowls shoulder plate as the larger mech squeezed him. His eyes grew impossibly wider and his mouth flopped open, processor on the verge of crashing with disbelief. Jazz _always _initiated physical contact between the two, the fact that Prowl had started this display himself came as a bit of a, well, a shock really.

When Jazz's processor finally caught on to what was happening, he wrapped his arms around Prowl and clung to him with ferocity. "Any'hing for ma Prowler." He whispered into Prowls neck. They continued to hug for a few more seconds before Prowl released him and carried on drinking his energon, like nothing out of the ordinary had just occurred. It was then that Jazz noticed a few mechs had seen the entire exchange, and looked as though they were on the verge of a processor glitch. Jazz just smirked at them each in turn and drank his energon like he typically would, and as though he didn't notice that every other bot in the room was staring at them for the rest of the time the pair were in the room.

The next day the twins turn up to Prowls office, paint in hand and smiles on their faces. When Sunny is done with Prowl the tactician looks like a new mech. As Jazz had seen him walk into the rec room soon after being refinished he had wolf whistled at him, laughing at the embarrassed expression that had flashed across Prowls face. However the expression was soon replaced with one of utter glee as Jazz literally _fell _off his seat in hysterics. Standing behind Prowl and sporting twin, _absolutely furious_, expressions was Sunny and Sides. Or at least that's who Jazz presumed they were, it was hard to tell after all; what with the luminous pink paint that was now covering their entire frames and all. Prowl smugly made his way across the room and offered a hand to Jazz, who still had yet to compose himself enough to get off the floor on his own.

Later that night, Prowl informed Jazz on how he had thought the twins both deserved _makeovers_ as a personal thank you from him. He also told Jazz about Cliffjumper's _personal_ decision to be painted purple with yellow spots, and how the minicon would be sporting his new look for an extensive period of time. Jazz clapped Prowl on the back in a friendly manner. "Well I'm glad tha they all decided tha' a change o' paint was a good idea," He smirked at the twins evilly and winked at them, "pink suits ya." Sunstreaker and Sideswipe just glared daggers at both Jazz and Prowl but continued to drink their energon miserably without saying a word.

Jazz stood on the table and waited until he had everyones attention before he raised his cube of energon in a toast. "To a _brighter _future" he said, and was met with a chorus of laughter from the other mechs present in the room. Sunstreaker looked positively murderous as he flung his chair out from behind him and stormed off in the direction of the door. "**Frag you Jazz!**" he spat out before leaving the room. Sideswipe stared after his brother for a second before he too stood up from his seat, although Sides was slightly calmer with the motion, and glared directly at Jazz. "Afthead" was the only thing he said before he moved to the door and walked out without saying another word. There was no doubt that the red twin was away to try help his brother cool down after his outburst.

Jazz giggled at the tantrum he knew Sunny was bound to be throwing at the moment as he climbed back down off the table, with a little assistance from Prowl, who was chuckling quietly to himself. "That went well." Prowl said once Jazz was back in his seat beside him. "Yeah I think it went _real well. _You've got a_ wicked_ mind ma mech ah must say." Prowl just looked at him, an optic ridge slightly raised, "Oh you have no idea." Jazz looked at Prowl disbelievingly before bursting out into another fit of laughter. The sound of Prowl laughing beside him made Jazz turn and smile at Prowl smugly, wrapping his arm around the side of his waist. "I've taught ya well ma mech, but then again ya deserve nothing but the best Prowler." Prowl looked and him and tentively put his arm around Jazz's shoulders. "And you arethe _best_ friend I could ask for." He said, emphasising the 'best' by squeezing Jazz's shoulders slightly as he said it. Prowl left his arm there for a few more seconds before pulling away and resuming his previous position beside Jazz.

A few hours later and the two were still sat in the rec room together, Jazz messing around with the other mechs in the room, while Prowl watched him with silent amusement. As Jazz laughed at something Ironhide had said he turned around to smile warmly up at Prowl. He realised then that Prowl had changed a lot in the past 24 hours. The once stoic and unsociable mech was now sat in the rec room happily interacting with the other members of team prime without even _once_ trying to escape back to his office. Jazz knew that the events of yesterday had obviously affected Prowl mentally and had made him change his way of viewing things. And, even though what happened yesterday was horrible and still made Jazz's frame itch with anger. He knew that it had left a more positive effect on Prowl in the end, more than anything really. Because it meant that Prowl was finally willing to open up a bit more with his comrades and enjoy what he could of life while living in the middle of a war. Plus, if Prowl sat slightly closer to Jazz than strictly necessary, well, that was no one else's business.

_**FIN**_

**A/N: Tahdah! See what I mean about the ending, what way did you interpret it? Let me know what you thought and as always thanks for reading :D BYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE :*  
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